With the help of 10 environmental and facilities engineers from General Motors, the kids put the finishing touches on nesting boxes that will serve as the ducks’ home base come springtime at GM facilities across the United States. The duck nests, which are made out of scrap Chevrolet Volt battery covers, will provide a safe place for wood ducks and even screech owls to lay their eggs – a much more desirable secondary use for the covers than dumping them in a landfill.

“This is a great example of finding an alternative use for something we receive in our assembly plant every day,” said John Bradburn, manager of waste-reduction efforts for GM. “Our employees think about waste differently than most…they view it as a challenge to keep items in their use phase.”

In addition to giving the kids a worthy after-school project, it also gives a nod to the value GM places on wildlife habitats surrounding its plants and facilities.